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I'm remodeling our bathroom and am nearly finished taking off the old tile. There is cement board behind the tile around the tub, up about 2 ft or so, which I think needs replacing, at least on the wall with the taps. I can see some mould in one corner of the tub near that wall.

Along the edge of the tub wall (below the lip of the tub), the metal corner (sorry -- don't know the name of this) is rusted, and the wall (which goes in about 2") has disintegrated -- might have been a piece of drywall, not sure. This only goes up the height of the tub, the rest is fine.

So here are my questions:

- How do I fix that metal corner and the wall? I would like to avoid removing the tub if possible.
- What is the best way to remove the cement board? i have read either remove the screws (although I can't find them all) or bash it with a sledgehammer -- I'm afraid to bash it in and hit the pipes or something.
- Do I need to replace all of the backer board, even if other sections are in ok condition?

Thanks so much in advance for your patience. :) This was supposed to be a simple remodel project but it has grown in scope! I'm a bit of a newbie at this but open to learning as much as possible.

Repairing the metal corner of the tub will depend on how bad it is. If the new tiling will cover the damaged area, I would probably use an epoxy to repair that area as best I could. If the new tiling won't cover it, then I'd be inclined to replace the tub.

Repairing the wall at the side of the tub will probably mean cutting out the wall to the NEXT stud (so that you have a full stud and the side of the next stud exposed). Use an angle drill to predrill and screw a piece of spruce 2X2 material to the exposed side of the stud. Then, fasten a piece of Wonderboard or other waterproof or water resistant board to both the exposed stud and the 2X2.

If the screws that you did find were made of ordinary steel, you can find the rest of them using a magnetic stud finder:

which you can buy for about $5 or so at any hardware store or home center tool department.

You only need to replace any tile backer that's damaged. If the old tiling was installed with thin set mortar, I would try using a paint s c r a p e r with a tungsten carbide blade to s c r a p e the old thin set off the tile backer board so that you have a clean surface to start with.